My name is Maggie and I am one of the founder of Animals Lebanon, I got your contact details from Mr. Victor Watkins.

I am writing to you to in regard of two brown bears-both females- in need of help. Animals Lebanon is a registered Lebanese animal welfare organization founded in 2008
www.animalslebanon.org .

In Februay 2009, we managed to close down a horrible zoo, some animals were already dead and some were close dying until we reached them and started feeding them. The local wild animals were placed in a sanctuary in Lebanon, the monkeys were sent to Wales- to sanctuary-, and now we have the remaining two bears. According to the owner of these bears are over eight years old and they are both females. Here is a link of the zoo rescue: www.animalslebanon.org/NewsDetails.aspx?NewsId=32 or you can see the video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0APfHc-oyM

We are looking for a place that could give them the chance at a better life. They have never seen or felt grass and they are currently living in horrible conditions. the cage is too small, never cleaned, and recently the water pump system at the zoo has stopped. We are giving them bottled water but it is not enough due to the heat in Lebanon. Thus, we need to find them a place ASAP.

We are a member society of WSPA and they might be able to help us with transport and getting a wildlife vet to Lebanon. Also, if we have a confirmation about a place for them, we might be able to find an airline to sponsor their flight. the question is could you help us place them in one of the sanctuaries ? or do you know any sanctuary that would help them?

We have a lot of footage/pictures and we could provide them to your orgnaization for fundraising if needed. We have sent other endangered animals to sanctuaries so we are aware of the CITES and IATA regulations and the paperwork needed to move them.

We called them Kira and Big Mama, they have been neglected for a long time and we really hope that together we can give them a decent life. I am attaching a couple of recent pictures of them